The Benefits of Being the Physician Scheduler

Juggling your roles as a physician and a physician scheduler is always challenging. You’re not only responsible for your regular patient load but also responsible for quickly creating a schedule that’s fair and equitable.

Perhaps more than anyone, you also know the impact that a good schedule has on your hospital as a whole – including improved patient outcomes. Your time is invaluable, yet the many benefits of being a physician scheduler outweigh the additional stress – as long as the scheduling process is working as it should.

The Importance of Effective Scheduling

While it’s easy to overlook employee scheduling as an important part of the overall effectiveness of an organization, you also can’t deny its impact on these areas:

Increased Productivity

Improved productivity comes when schedulers respect each physician’s personal time, provide team members more scheduling flexibility, and give physicians mobile access to their work schedules.

Respectful Work Environment

A consistent, fair scheduling process is more likely to create a work environment in which employees feel valued and respected.

Improved Patient Outcomes

There are a variety of ways in which effective scheduling impacts patient outcomes:

Shorter wait times

Enhanced continuity of care

Stronger relationships between physicians and patients

Better overall results because patients are more satisfied with their care

Decreased chance of physician burnout, which can influence the quality of patient care

Physician Satisfaction

As the physician scheduler, you play a key role in your fellow physicians’ overall job satisfaction. An effective schedule creates a strong work/life balance that can decrease employee turnover while improving patient outcomes. Moreover, creating work schedules in advance allows physicians to coordinate their work and social schedules effectively.

Physicians Scheduling Physicians: The Benefits

Being an effective physician scheduler requires many skills, including exceptional communication skills, flexibility and tolerance, a positive and proactive attitude, a mature sense of responsibility, compassion, and an ownership attitude in which you take pride in your overall impact on your facility.

Your role comes with many benefits, as well:

Increased compassion for physicians and healthcare providers

A positive work environment in which there’s a strong team atmosphere

The knowledge that an effective schedule means improved patient care

A work environment with less employee turnover

The respect of your fellow physicians

Improved communication between team members

The satisfaction of knowing that patients are happy and more apt to continue treatment when necessary

In short, being a physician scheduler can help make you a better physician overall. You’ll create a seasoned, professional staff that’s committed to a higher quality of work.